Textron Aviation delivered 40 Cessna Citations in the second quarter, down from 49 in the same period last year, though a stronger opening quarter left the manufacturer just three business jets behind its first-half 2025 pace. Commercial turboprop deliveries, however, climbed to 44 from 34 a year ago.

The Wichita-based Textron subsidiary posted revenues of $1.5 billion, up 1% ($22 million) from second-quarter 2025. Segment profit of $165 million was down $5 million from a year earlier. Textron pointed to manufacturing inefficiencies and the lower volume and mix of aircraft as the primary causes, partially offset by reduced warranty costs.

“Demand across jets and turboprops continued to be robust during the quarter, supporting a backlog of $8 billion,” CEO Lisa Atherton said during the company’s earnings call this morning.

Second-quarter jet deliveries included six Citation M2 Gen2s, nine CJ3+/CJ3 Gen2s, four CJ4 Gen2s, six Citation Ascends, nine Latitudes, and six Longitudes. A year earlier, the mix was eight M2 Gen2s, nine CJ3+s, seven CJ4 Gen2s, seven XLS Gen2s, 12 Latitudes, and six Longitudes. The Ascend succeeded the XLS Gen2 this year.

Turboprop shipments in the quarter were led by the SkyCourier, which jumped to 11 from four a year ago. Caravan deliveries edged down to 19 from 20, while King Airs rose to 14—nine King Air 260s and five King Air 360s—from 10.

The business aviation sector continues to show resiliency in the face of potential headwinds, and industry analysts participating in a JetNet webinar on Friday agreed that this is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Those experts, however, also cautioned that a significant event could disrupt that momentum.

In the past few months, several events could have upset the market, from waterway blockades to the Iran war, AeroDynamic Advisory managing director Richard Aboulafia noted. “It’s absolutely terrible, yet the economy is fine,” he commented.

Bill Ostrove, manager of market intelligence and analysis for Global Jet Capital, agreed. “Q1 was a pretty good quarter, and there’s all these warning signs,” he said. “Overall things were pretty stable…[The issues] never seemed to really erupt, so hopefully that will continue.”

Kevin Schwab, strategic planning manager at Honeywell Aerospace, agreed. “So far this year we've seen really strong performance in deliveries of new aircraft. Demand for preowned aircraft is even stronger, and flight activity remains up,” he noted. "So far, we're expecting that to continue through the rest of 2026.”

Healthy skepticism remains based on the economy, he added, but “we're not seeing any of that happening yet, and so our outlook remains pretty strong for business aviation.”

CrewBlast has launched CertiFly, an AI tool that checks pilot and flight attendant qualification paperwork for operators filling both short-term contract slots and permanent crew positions. The new system draws on artificial intelligence, optical character recognition, document-validation software, and Clear’s biometric ID checks to cross-check whether a candidate's pilot and medical certificates, as well as training records, match up.

The platform cross-references submitted training records against a pilot’s claimed type ratings, and checks whether a candidate’s qualifications align with the position being sought. According to CrewBlast, the tool continuously scans submitted files and can quickly alert to problems like outdated certificates, gaps in a record, contradictory entries, or a mismatch between claimed and required qualifications.

CrewBlast said the platform was built using more than 47.5 million aviation qualification data points and does not make hiring decisions. “CertiFly doesn't hire pilots or flight attendants. Operators do,” said founder and CEO Timothy Griffin. “Our goal was to build the industry’s most intelligent qualification review platform, giving flight departments the confidence to make faster, more informed hiring decisions while maintaining complete control over the final approval process.”

The company said CertiFly is the first phase of a larger technology initiative scheduled for release next month.

Closed preowned business aircraft transactions rose 21% year over year to 746 during the first half of the year, according to the International Aircraft Dealers Association's (IADA) Second Quarter 2026 Market Report. IADA Accredited Dealers reported 536 aircraft placed under acquisition agreements, an 8% increase over the same period last year, while dealers purchased 118 aircraft into inventory, an 87% year-over-year increase and double the total from the first half of 2024.

Dealers signed 238 exclusive retainer agreements to sell aircraft during the second quarter, a pace IADA said has remained largely consistent over the past seven quarters. Aircraft price reductions totaled 67 during the first half, an 11% decline from the prior year and the fewest since IADA began tracking the metric in 2023.

“The first half of 2026 demonstrates that the preowned business aircraft market continues to perform remarkably well,” said IADA executive director Lou Seno. “Limited availability of high-quality aircraft is supporting valuations and shifting negotiating leverage toward sellers,” he added.

IADA members rated the current sales market at 3.45 on a five-point scale, roughly in line with 3.55 in the first quarter and up from 3.07 a year earlier. The association’s buyer-seller index fell to 2.74, its lowest reading since early 2024, reflecting a continued shift toward sellers.

DAS Aviation has expanded its heat exchanger inspection, repair, and overhaul service to help Cessna business jet operators reduce downtime and avoid costly replacements

Saab has received an order for two GlobalEye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft “from a country in the Middle East region.” Announced yesterday, the $1 billion deal will see the pair of heavily modified Bombardier Global 6500s delivered to the as-yet-anonymous nation in 2030.

According to Saab CEO Micael Johansson, “The increasing international interest in GlobalEye reflects its effectiveness and reliability in modern air defense operations.” In November, he confirmed to Reuters that “Qatar and Saudi Arabia have both shown interest in the early warning and control aircraft already ordered by the United Arab Emirates. We are campaigning, and we have given them offers.”

While Qatar and Kuwait currently have no sovereign AEW&C capability, the Royal Saudi Air Force operates up to five aging Boeing E-3A Sentries, purchased some four decades ago. In 2018, a modernization agreement with Boeing pledged to upgrade these to Block 40/45 configuration, looking to keep the E-3 interoperable with USAF examples.

This new order builds on a strong year of sales for the GlobalEye platform. NATO selected up to 10 in early July, while Canada announced Saab as “its preferred supplier” of its upcoming airborne early warning aircraft in May.

The FAA has released a final rule upgrading the radio altimeter minimum performance requirements on aircraft operating in the 48 contiguous U.S. states and the District of Columbia to ensure that they can withstand interference from wireless services in the 3.70- to 4.2-GHz frequency (C-band) that is adjacent to frequencies used by aircraft.

Under the rule announced late last week, the mandated upgrade applies to aircraft equipped with radio altimeters, including the majority of those flown under Parts 121, 125, 129, 91K, and 135, and a “minority” under Part 91.

Two compliance dates were established for the mandatory retrofits to upgraded equipment based on the operation. Those operating under Part 121 and large aircraft (30 or more passenger seats or 7,500 pounds or more payload) operating under Part 129 must meet the new standards by Dec. 30, 2030. All others must meet the requirements by Oct. 31, 2034.

The rule is in response to a measure in the Trump Administration's One Big Beautiful Bill Act directing the Federal Communications Commission to auction off at least 100 MHz in the upper C-band. According to the FAA, this is necessary “to ensure safe, efficient, and reliable aviation operations in the presence of wireless signals in the C-band. These new radio altimeters must withstand interference from wireless signals in neighboring spectrum bands and continue to provide accurate altitude readings.”

Granite Air Center, the FBO serving Lebanon Municipal Airport (KLEB) in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, is joining the Titan Aviation Fuels network beginning in August. Through the partnership, Granite Air Center will gain access to Titan’s business development resources, marketing support, loyalty program, quality control training, and fuel supply options.

The locally-owned FBO offers aircraft fueling, hangar space, maintenance, concierge services, and ground support to general and business aviation operators throughout New England. Granite Air Center also holds IS-BAH Stage II registration.

“Granite Air Center has earned an outstanding reputation by putting customers first and delivering exceptional service,” said Robbie Stallings, president of Titan Aviation Fuels. “Their values closely align with ours, and we look forward to supporting their continued success.”

According to Granite Air COO Jason Archambeault, the partnership aligns with the FBO’s safety and service commitments, as well as “with an organization that shares those values, providing us additional resources that will help us continue enhancing the services we offer.”

Granite Air Center joins a network of more than 675 branded FBOs. Titan offers services such as a rewards pilot loyalty program, Multi Service Aviation Card, Titan Aerospace Insurance, and Atlas FBO Management Software.

Airbus Helicopters has opened a training academy at the UK’s Oxford Airport (EGTK) that can instruct more than 400 rotorcraft pilots, maintenance technicians, and managers per year, the company announced on Friday. According to Airbus, the investment in the 129,000-sq-ft site is necessary to meet the helicopter industry’s shortfall of skilled staff. It will offer flight training; maintenance, repair, and overhaul instruction; and executive leadership programs.

The academy’s training programs meet the requirements of the UK government’s Skills Agenda, including Level 3, 4, 5, and 6 apprenticeships funded jointly by employers and the state. It will support training of personnel with the Royal Air Force, the UK Military Flying Training System, the National Police Air Service, and around two-thirds of the country’s air ambulance operators. Operating to UK CAA and EASA standards, the academy lays claim to being the country’s only training center to offer a Part 147-approved B2 technicians course for Airbus helicopters.

“We are seeing a shortage of technical rotary wing specialists in the UK, further impacted by the added workload to industry and the [post-Brexit] lack of mutual recognition between CAA and EASA. The launch of this training academy is part of a long-term vision to ensure critical services to support the UK’s rotary wing fleet,” said Richard Atack, managing director of Airbus Helicopters in the UK.